Medicine, rhetoric, and euthanasia: A case study in the workings of a postmodern discourse

The purpose of this essay is to begin an inquiry into the rhetoric of what has been acknowledged as one of the most important and controversial issues of our time: euthanasia. Attention is focused primarily on the medical profession's involvement with the issue. A brief history is provided of the relationship that exists between medicine, rhetoric, and euthanasia. The majority of the essay is devoted to offering a critical reading of a controversial narrative on euthanasia that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In paying particular attention to what this narrative is doing rhetorically—how it means, not just what it means—the suggestion is developed that the story is addressing both its topic and its readers in a “postmodern” manner. The essay concludes with an assessment of this rhetorical strategy.